Vision of a surrealist

Water Is... contribution Environmental Fragility is part of a digital photographic series currently exhibiting at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery till 27th November. Artist Glen Ravo gives the back story to his work.

I created the series Paradoxic Realism in response to my concern for our environment. I questioned the impact we're making on our fragile planet and went in search for the answers. It became quite clear that consumerism is definitely an underlying cause of the problems we face. The media is constantly encouraging us to buy the latest products to make us feel better about ourselves and we have tripled the garbage we each create in the past 30 years. Despite this, statistics prove that society is more dissatisfied than ever before.

So, the whole concept of this exhibition is to make people think. This is why I felt compelled to create this body or work.

Environmental Fragility reflects the tenous position we, as humans, have assumed on earth. The landscape is fragile with its earthquakes, tsunamis, and movement of water, and we are merely a little paper boat in a position where we could easily fall over the edge.

The old fashioned light bulbs hanging from the sky in Electricity symbolise how we use electricity. The sunset implies how this form of energy is phasing out and the black clouds billowing from the small power station represents the pollution that is created.

In all of the images I've utilised the latest photo technologies to create a paradox. Photography has always been considered as a true representation of a moment in time yet has been used constantly to misrepresent and manipulate public opinion. Paradoxic Realism highlights some of the ambiguities of modern society as it progresses into the future. Within this progress there are undoubtedly both negative and positive social environmental impacts. How man evolves and adapts to these changes is a dilemma that needs to be addressed and understood by everyone, to ensure future generations continue to exist.

I believe many people don't have a clear understanding on why global warming is occurring and very few would understand the reasons behind the world's escalating consumerism. I hope this series of work will help enlighten more people about the problems we face and to think twice before we buy that next product.